serpent
Syllables: ser·pentUK/ˈsɜːpənt//ˈsɝpənt/
serpent noun: a snake. Also the alternative letter-case form of Serpent.
Noun
serpent (plural serpents)
- A snake.
- He falls into it, who has digg'd a Pit.
Who breaks a Hedge is with a Serpent bit.1712, A. Hill, chapter 9, in The Book of Ecclesiastes Paraphrased. A Divine Poem., Newcastle upon Tyne: J. White, page 38 - Coiled up behind the shrub, […] was a green imamba, the most dreaded of all South African serpents.1879, Charles H. Eden, chapter III, in Ula, in Veldt and Laager: A Tale of the Zulus., copyright edition, Hamburg: Karl Grädener, page 45
- He falls into it, who has digg'd a Pit.
- A snake-like creature, such as a sea serpent.
- Then Beowulf too rallied. With his whetted dagger he slit a gash in the serpent's middle.1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 46
- A person who is subtle, malicious, treacherous, or deceiving.
- He is a very serpent in my way.c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- 'Dogs and serpents,' She began in a low voice that gradually gathered power as she went on, till the place rang with it. Eaters of human flesh, two things have ye done. First, ye have attacked these strangers, being white men, and would have slain their servant, and for that alone death is your...1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- backstabber, double-crosser, betrayer, cockatrice, quisling, rat, ratter, recreant, renegade, snake
- An obsolete wind instrument in the brass family, whose shape is suggestive of a snake (Wikipedia article).
- A kind of firework with a serpentine motion.
Verb
serpent (third-person singular simple present serpents, present participle serpenting, simple past and past participle serpented)
Proper noun capitalized: Serpent
the Serpent
- Synonym of Serpens (a constellation).
- Synonyms:
- Serpens
- Synonym of Satan or referencing the form he took in the Book of Genesis (a serpent).
- Quin, with the wisdom of the serpent, called for more drinks.1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 136
- Synonyms:
- Satan or referencing the form he took in the Book of Genesis
Also used as
serpent is also the alternative letter-case form of Serpent.
serpent meaning in Sanskrit, Arabic, Indonesian and Persian
serpent in Sanskrit
- snake
- सर्प sarpa, अहि ahi
serpent in Arabic
- snake
- ثُعْبَان ṯuʕbān, حَنَش ḥanaš, حَيَّة ḥayya, أَفْعَى ʔafʕā
serpent in Indonesian
- snake
- ular
serpent in Persian
- snake
- مار mâr, اربد arbad
More languagesFewer languages
- Kashmiri
- سَرُپھ saruph, سَرُف saruf
Examples of serpent in a sentence
- Any serpent six feet long looks formidable; and over that length, one takes on the aspect of a chimera.1946 October, Archibald Rutledge, “Along Nature's Trail”, in Boys' Life, volume 36, number 10, Boy Scouts of America, Inc., →ISSN, page 40:
- 'Dogs and serpents,' She began in a low voice that gradually gathered power as she went on, till the place rang with it.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
Synonyms of serpent
15 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- traitor
- treasonist
- wolf in sheep's clothing
- edder
- ophidian
- remora
- Serpens
- Satan or referencing the form he took in the Book of Genesis
- cockatrice
- swike
- treacher
- treacherer
- turntippet
- withersake
- adder
Forms of serpent
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | serpents |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | serpents |
| present participle | serpenting |
| past participle | serpented |
| past | serpented |
Origin of serpent
From Middle English serpent, from Old French serpent (“snake, serpent”), from Latin serpēns (“snake”), present active participle of serpere (“to creep, crawl”), from Proto-Italic *serpō, from Proto-Indo-European *serp-. In this sense, displaced native Old English nǣdre (“snake, serpent”), whence Modern English adder. Compare Sanskrit सर्प (sarpa, “snake”), which is a descendant of the same Proto-Indo-European word as serpent.
Words formed from serpent
- fiery serpent
- serpentarium
- serpentess
- serpenticidal
- serpenticide
- serpenticone
- serpenticonic
- serpentist
- serpentize
- serpentkind
- serpentlike
- serpently
- serpentry
- serpopard
- serpent cucumber
- serpent eagle
- serpent-eater
- serpent gourd
- serpent-grass
- serpent grass
- serpent radish
- serpent seed
- serpent star
- serpent's tongue
- serpentwood
Phrases with serpent
Questions about serpent
- What does serpent mean?
- Serpent means a snake.
- What is serpent in Sanskrit?
- Serpent in Sanskrit is सर्प (sarpa), अहि (ahi). See Serpent meaning in Sanskrit.
- How do you use serpent in a sentence?
- Any serpent six feet long looks formidable; and over that length, one takes on the aspect of a chimera.
- What part of speech is serpent?
- Serpent can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce serpent?
- Serpent is pronounced /ˈsɜːpənt/ (UK).
- What is the plural of serpent?
- The plural of serpent is serpents.
Words near serpent in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: serpent (page history and authors); Serpent (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-serpent.ogg.
Cite this entry: “serpent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/serpent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.